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Early Childhood Education Initiatives Continue

Information reprinted with permission of the Courier Times, local newspaper New Castle, Indiana www.thecouriertimes.com

Early childhood education initiatives continue

Posted: Tuesday, August 16, 2016 6:00 am

Several organizations focused on early childhood education set up camp Saturday at First United Methodist Church, telling those who attended about local opportunities available. The event, “Henry County is All IN 4 Pre-K,” was sponsored by the Henry County HOPE Initiative and the Huffer Memorial Children’s Center in Muncie. 

HOPE Initiative has been working to increase access to early childhood education by emphasizing the state’s voluntary “Paths to QUALITY” standards, a credentialing program to ensure that young children are receiving high-quality, structured education.

Booths manned by Head Start, First Steps, New Castle Career Center, YMCA, Agape Learning Center, CRADLES and the Huffer Resource and Referral Center were on hand Saturday, distributing materials. 

The event wasn’t as well-attended as organizers had hoped, but attributed the low turnout to a last-minute location change on account of rain, and the weather in general.

Many of the groups who had booths at the event emphasized they had openings available for pre-school age children.

For instance, Head Start in Knightstown had five openings for 4-year-old children as of Friday, said executive director John Pennycuff. Children are eligible to attend preschool at Head Start if they meet a certain income guideline, which is 100 percent of the poverty level.

Agape Learning Center in New Castle, which has obtained a Level 2 Paths to QUALITY rating, has two openings for its 4 year old preschool program, a representative said Saturday.  

The New Castle-Henry County YMCA had eight total openings as of Monday morning for its 4-and-5-year-old preschool program, three in the morning class and five in the afternoon class. 

The New Castle Career Center, which operates Shining Stars Preschool, also had a couple openings available, according to representative Patty Broyles.

“I’m so proud of the New Castle School system,” Broyles said, giving props to Sherri Bergum, New Castle’s director of curriculum, instruction and elementary programs. “Her goal is to bridge the gap between preschool and the school system.”

Broyles, who also serves on the HOPE Initiative Early Childhood Education Committee, said Henry County has a good start in its early childhood goals and helping various programs obtain Paths to QUALITY ratings. 

And Henry County isn’t alone in its quest regarding early childhood education.

Friday, in a joint press conference, United Way of Central Indiana, Eli Lilly, Early Learning Indiana and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett touted investments made by the private sector and government to expand access to high-quality pre-k for a limited number of Hoosier students, a press release issued after the conference said.

“Indiana’s signature pre-k efforts include a matching-grants program and a five-county pilot program funded by the state, and an Indianapolis-funded scholarship program, but demand for these programs far outpaces capacity,” the release indicated. “Thousands of students remain unserved statewide because adequate funding does not exist to meet demand, and nearly two-thirds of students who applied for the state’s five-county pilot program or Indianapolis’ program were denied a spot last year.”

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce recently issued a statement about its hopes for the 2017 legislative session pertaining to pre-k initiatives.

“Over the last five years, the Indiana Chamber has put an increased focus on supporting the development of a statewide publicly-funded preschool initiative- making it a top legislative priority in each of those sessions,” a press release said. “We are very encouraged by the All IN 4 Pre-K efforts and believe the 2017 legislative session is when a more robust preschool program must be put in place; the need is very real and widespread.” 

Information from the Indiana Youth Institute indicates that for every 100 children younger than age 5, Henry County has 12.3 licensed child care spots compared to the overall state average of 19.9 spots, meaning many parents are put on waiting lists when looking for day care or preschool options. 

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration website lists nine daycare and/or early childhood education programs for the 47362 zip code, six of which have at least a Level 1 Paths to QUALITY rating. The government website also lists copies of inspection reports and complaint information, if applicable. Agape, which had the most recent inspection of the nine facilities listed, had no violations during an inspection July 27. 

For more information about Paths to QUALITY, visit childcareindiana.org.

For More Information Contact:

Henry County Head Start: 765-529-4403

First Steps: 765-521-7401

New Castle Career Center: 765-593-6680

CRADLES: 765-593-6629

Agape: 765-529-8774

New Castle Henry County YMCA: 765-529-3804